FRISCO, Texas — Quinnen Williams had 1.5 sacks in seven games after the Dallas Cowboys traded for him last November. He said Wednesday he is confident he can get that production back to where it was in New York.
Williams has rushed against Cowboys guard Tyler Smith all offseason.
“I’m feeling comfortable. I’m feeling comfortable with all the hard work I put in,” Williams said. “Going against Tyler Smith is one of the best offensive linemen, and that battle has helped me, my confidence-wise, tremendously with the battle going against him this whole entire offseason. So I’m super confident in myself. I’m super confident in the work that I put in. And I’m just, got to fine-tune some things, got to be detailed on some things and continue to work some things and trust the process and the results of having it yourself.”
Williams’ best pass-rush season came in 2022, when he had 12 sacks and 28 quarterback hits for the New York Jets. He was a First-team All-Pro that year. His sack totals since: 5.5 in 2023, 6.0 in 2024 and 2.5 across 15 games last season split between the Jets and Dallas.
Smith has been to three straight Pro Bowls at guard and signed a four-year, $96 million extension last summer, the largest deal for an interior offensive lineman in league history.
Quinnen Williams On What Von Miller Brings To The Room
The Dallas front mixes power rushers and speed rushers, in Williams’ description, and it has one player he says can do all of it.
“Oh, for sure, man. I learned something,” Williams explained. “I went to Von Miller’s Pass Rush Summit and learned some things from there from him. So having him in the room, even when we watch pass rush and we watch tips and different things like that, it’s a guy that got probably more, I always joke with him. He got more sacks than the whole defensive line room combined. So I always joke with him with that.”
“But the experience he has, the pass rush snaps that he had in his career, the sacks that he had, it’s all a blessing for me to have in the room,” Williams added. “So I can soak up all the knowledge and experience myself.”
Von Miller agreed to a one-year deal on Aug. 16 worth $5.5 million, with a maximum value of $7.5 million. He is entering his 15th season and leads all active players with 138.5 career sacks, having produced nine of them for the Washington Commanders in 2025. Miller grew up in DeSoto and played at Texas A&M. He has eight Pro Bowl selections and was the Super Bowl 50 MVP. He sat out the 2020 season with an ankle injury and has since played for the Los Angeles Rams, the Buffalo Bills and Washington.
Miller missed the offseason program and all of training camp before joining the team, and Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Tuesday that Miller has spent as much time with the offensive tackles as with the pass rushers.
Quinnen Williams On Interior Pass Rush And Recent Super Bowl Winners
Williams said the urgency on defense has risen from going against the Dallas offense every day.
“I think like you’ve seen, the last Super Bowl champions in the last probably four or five years had unbelievable interior defensive line play,” Williams said. “And there’s just the statistic on his own right there to show you how important it is for the defensive tackle in the NFL to be dominant and make an impact.”
In his seven games with Dallas last season, Williams was credited with nine quarterback hits and 19 pressures on 275 defensive snaps. The Cowboys allowed more points than any team in the league in 2025 and finished 7-9-1.
Williams has 41.5 career sacks, 343 tackles and 62 tackles for loss in 105 games.
Dallas’ pass-rush rotation also includes Rashan Gary, acquired from the Green Bay Packers, 2025 second-round pick Donovan Ezeiruaku and first-round rookie Malachi Lawrence. Kenny Clark and Williams anchor the interior.
Williams signed a three-year, $105.9 million extension on Aug. 10 that keeps him under contract through 2030.
Dallas opens the regular season Sunday, Sept. 13, at the New York Giants. Kickoff is set for 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC.
